Today’s headlines: Tax credit ​‘safe harbor’ rules restored, RGGI keeps rolling, and more

This roundup of U.S. energy news headlines is part of our Canary Media Daily newsletter. Sign up to get it in your inbox each morning.

CLEAN ENERGY

• A federal court strikes down IRS rules and restores a long-standing method for wind and solar developers to ​“safe harbor” their projects and qualify for expiring tax credits by investing at least 5% of the project’s total cost. (Crux Climate, decision)

• The Government Accountability Office finds that the DOE may have broken the law by allocating four times more money to geothermal projects than Congress appropriated while slashing funding for other renewables. (Latitude Media)

UTILITIES

• A grand jury reindicts FirstEnergy’s former CEO and a former lobbyist on a combined 22 criminal counts after their previous prosecutions in a long-running Ohio power plant bribery case ended in a mistrial. (Associated Press)

EMISSIONS

• The most recent auction of the East Coast’s Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative results in lower-than-expected prices for carbon allowances, despite fears about Virginia’s pending reentry to the cap-and-trade program jacking up prices due to the state’s data centers and lack of renewable energy development. (E&E News)

SOLAR

• Connecticut’s governor signs a sweeping bill that legalizes balcony solar installations, requires automated residential solar permitting, and establishes a revamped community solar program while placing a moratorium on certain kinds of large-scale solar development. (PV Magazine)

WIND

• Apex Clean Energy celebrates ongoing construction on Virginia’s first wind farm after years of delay, with operations set to begin by the end of the year. (Roanoke Times, WVTF)

DATA CENTERS

• State legislators in Pennsylvania and Delaware introduce bills that would require data center developers to build or buy their own power supply to keep them from racking up charges for residential customers. (Pennsylvania Capital-Star, Spotlight Delaware)

• Leaders at Google, Meta, and other tech companies push back against Midwestern utilities’ efforts to end competitive bidding for transmission projects that will feed data centers, saying competition provides a check on high prices. (E&E News)

ELECTRIFICATION

• The EU proposes bloc-wide targets for deploying smart meters that can help prevent power grid strain and lower bills as more electric appliances and cars come online. (E&E News)

FOSSIL FUELS

• California lawmakers push back on the Trump administration’s planned $75 million subsidy for a long-delayed coal export terminal in Oakland, saying the project would harm air and water quality and increase electricity costs. (Bay City News)

• Data show independent firms are ramping up oil and gas drilling in the Permian Basin, but analysts say the resulting production boost won’t bring down oil prices. (E&E News)